THE pilot of a plane which crashed in Snowdonia said yesterday he owes his life to the quick work of mountain rescue teams who rushed to his aid.

But 61-year-old Brian Vaux said he will be haunted by the death of his passenger.

Their Cessna 152 hit a 2,000ft mountainside in the Ogwen Valley, near Bethesda in September last year.

Retired garage boss Stuart Kingsbury, 73, of Talywain, near Pontypool, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Vaux, from Pontypool, was critically injured. He was airlifted to hospital and has since undergone extensive treatment for brain and spinal injuries.

Still recovering, Mr Vaux last night paid tribute to his rescuers who were alerted by a lady fell runner after she heard the impact.

The Ogwen Valley mountain rescue team was called and two helicopters scrambled.

North Wales Police airlifted a paramedic to the site and helped mountain rescuers.

Mr Vaux was then taken by RAF helicopter to Bangor’s Ysbyty Gwynedd.

He said: “I would certainly like to pay tribute to those people. I owe my life to them and I would like to thank them and pay tribute to their work.

“When you consider they are volunteers, what they did was great.

“Hopefully, if I make a full recovery, I would like to go back to the area and meet the people and thank them for their assistance on that day.”

But he was devastated by Mr Kingsbury’s death: “Stuart Kingsbury, had been a long- standing friend for over 40 years and he was probably the first person who introduced me to general aviation, light aircraft.

“He was a wonderful guy. He helped me a lot and I was devastated by his death and I am sure it will haunt me the rest of my life.

“The only relief I have is that I have had tremendous support from his family since the accident – especially from his widow Frances.

“His widow still says it was a terrible accident – and that's all that it was – an accident.

“It means a lot to me.”

The two-seater plane was heading for Shobdon airfield, near Leominster, Hereford, having just taken off from Caernarfon airport.

Weather conditions were said to be poor with low cloud and light rain.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said an investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Branch is continuing and a report into the incident will be published in the next few weeks.